


Present

by archchancellor_archived



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Post-Hogwarts, The Quidditch Pitch: Leaving Feast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-10-06
Updated: 2005-10-06
Packaged: 2018-10-26 11:59:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10786332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/archchancellor_archived/pseuds/archchancellor_archived
Summary: Crookshank and Hedwig talk about that past.





	Present

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

The party had been going on for a few hours now. Crookshanks' mistress was another year older and her friends and family were having a party to celebrate it and were giving her gifts. Crookshanks found this very strange.

One reason was that cats, like most animals, do not celebrate their birthday--except horses but they were a bunch of insane, pretentious yarrpits in Crookshanks' opinion so they could be ignored.

The other reason for it being strange was that Crookshanks had noticed that no human female liked to talk about how old she was. So, in theory, females should not want a party that draws attention to the fact that they are getting older. But they do. Crookshanks found this very hard to understand.

Crookshanks sat on the top of the bookshelves in the living room. One of the two reasons why he was up there was because the family of his mistress was here. And the two that looked the same were giving him some funny looks.

The other redhead, the one that smelt of dragons was okay; he always gave Crookshanks a rub on his tummy, which made Crookshanks purr.

The one with messy black hair was here as well. He was having a drink talking to his mistress' parents.

"I hope he does not drink too much," said a female voice beside him.

The owner of that voice was the other reason why he was keeping out of the way on top of the bookshelf.

"Hedwig, it’s a party; humans like to drink at parties," Crookshanks said.

"Not that much," she replied.

Hedwig, for some reason, always sent him up the wall. She was a worrier and a stuck-up one at that. In small amounts she was fine, but after a while you wanted to clip her wings and throw her out a window.

Some time ago she had found out that humans think that owls are wise, and she had taken it to heart. So on days when she was not looking down her beak at anyone who was not an owl, she spent her time sounding like a fortune cookie.

Crookshanks knew that owls were not the wisest of animals; you only had to look at Pig to see that. Crookshanks had once made the mistake of pointing this out. Hedwig had gone into a strop about it for two weeks.

"I’m sure he will be fine," Crookshanks said, trying to reassure the owl.

"I hope so. I remember the last time he was drinking," she said.

"So do I," Crookshanks said. "It was very funny."

"Funny! Putting a lampshade on your head and doing elephant impressions are not funny."

Crookshanks did not say anything; he had found it very funny but he did not want to start an argument with the owl.

"Some of the elephants I know would be shocked to have seen that," Hedwig said.

"It was not that bad, Hedwi-" Crookshanks stopped as his brain caught up with his ears. "How do you know an elephant?"

"Many years back I was delivering a letter for my master to his godfather. He was in hiding at the time. When I met him, I met the elephant."

"Where was he hiding? Africa? India?"

"No. He was behind the elephant pen at the London Zoo."

Crookshanks gave her a strange look before looking back at the party. His mistress was talking with her parents. She looked happy.

He remembered his Mum; his dad was never there but that is the way with cats. He and his two sisters growing up in a box behind a chip shop in south London. His mother teaching him--the best was to hunt--how to outwit dogs. The dog lessons were easy: the best way to lose a dog was walk around a corner.

He had enjoyed his time with his family. But he needed to leave, to make his own space in the world. A year after he left, he was taken from the streets and put in a pet shop. Where he'd met his mistress.

"What were your family like, Hedwig?" Crookshanks aske; his voice sounded as if it was coming from far away.

"I never knew my parents. I was born in captivity. The place where I grew up was run by people who looked after animals and birds."

Crookshanks said nothing; he was a bit shocked. She had never said anything about this.

"It was okay there. The people looked after me well. But there were only a few owls. It was lonely at times."

"I’m sorry I did not know."

"It’s okay. After a year or so I was taken from the centre by a man. I later found out that he was a wizard. He takes owls and turns them into post owls."

"I have heard about that. Do they have some type of training?"

"No. They used spells on me. It was very painful at times."

"Painful? Did they know?"

"I don’t think so. But I do not think they would have cared much if they did. Most humans think they are above all other."

"How long did this go on for?"

"A few weeks. After that I was put in a pet shop. Two months later I was taken by a very large man and given to my master."

Hedwig fell silent and stared off into space, lost in her own thoughts. Crookshanks did not say anything. Well what could he say? Crookshanks looked down at the room. There was a plate of biscuits that no one had any interest in.

"Want something to eat?" he asked, hoping to take her mind off the past.

If she heard him, she made no indication of it. Crookshanks sighed and hopped down to the floor. He padded across the room and jumped up onto the table with the biscuits. They smelled great. Crookshanks wondered why no one else was eating them. He dismissed the thought and sat down to eat.

~*~

Hermione was having one of the best days in her life. She was spending her birthday with all the people that she loved. And she was being given presents.

The only strange point of the day was that Pig was using her hair as a nest. She had spent most of the party with him on her head hooting happily. This was the first time she had seen him this week. She did not know where he kept going all the time and Ron said that it was his own business when she had asked him.

It had been a good party. The only bad point was when she had to tell off the twins. They had brought some treats from their shop. No one was going to eat them. Even her parents knew not to take anything from them.

She was talking to her parents when she heard a rasping cough from behind her. She turned to see Crookshanks gagging. He looked like he had a very bad hairball. Hermione saw the biscuits that the twins left as he coughed again.

"Crookshanks!" She cried as she ran to him.

Crookshanks was in a bad way. He was having trouble breathing. Part of the biscuit was caught in his throat. Hermione opened his mouth to see if she could move the blockage.

The others had seen Hermione's actions and were now crowded around them.

"Try an anti-choking spell on him," said one of the twins.

"They only work on humans sometimes. If I tried it on him, it would kill him." Hermione snapped.

Hermione worked frantically trying to help him.

"I can’t get it out," she said close to tears as her cat slowly died.

"Louise!" Ron said.

"Who?"

"Louise. She works at the animal centre with sick animals. She may know what to do. She only lives across the road."

"Ok," Hermione said, gently picking up the stricken Crookshanks. "Let's go."


End file.
